Alexander Shlemenko
Alexander Shlemenko is the former Bellator middleweight champion. Road to the Title He most recently beat Matt Major in the quarterfinals of the Bellator Season Two middleweight tournament. He next faced Season One finalist Jared Hess in the semifinals, defeating Hess via doctor stoppage in the third round after Hess badly dislocated his knee. Shlemenko faced off against Bryan Baker in the tournament's final round, with the winner earning a shot at middleweight champion Hector Lombard. He defeated Baker via knockout and he next faced Lombard for the title. Lombard predicted a submission victory in the bout. Lombard instead won via dominant unanimous decision. He next faced Nick Wagner, winning via first round knockout. He next faced Brett Cooper, winning via an exciting unanimous decision. With the win, Alex secured a spot in the fifth season middleweight tournament. He next faced Dream veteran Zelg Galesic in the quarterfinals, defeating him via first round standing guillotine choke. Shlemenko next faced Brian Rogers in the semifinals. Before the fight, Shlemenko stated that he was coming to knock out Hector Lombard in a title rematch. He stated that he was going to knock Rogers out first. After a rocky first round, Shlemenko dominated the second round and finished Rogers with knee strikes after rocking him with a trademark spinning back fist. With the impressive victory, Shlemenko moved on to the tournament finals for the second time in his career to face Wand Fight Team prospect Vitor Vianna. Shlemenko picked up his second straight middleweight tournament championship, defeating Vianna via a dominant unanimous decision. Shlemenko next faced UFC veteran Julio Paulino in his native Russia outside of Bellator, defeating Paulino with seemingly little effort via unanimous decision. Shlemenko was next set to receive his rematch against Hector Lombard for the Bellator middleweight championship. Instead, before he would face Lombard, Shlemenko signed to make his Super Fight League debut in India against fellow newcomer and Pride/Dream veteran Ikuhisa Minowa. Shlemenko made short and effortless work of Minowa, defeating him via TKO (injury) in the very first round. After defeating Minowa, Shlemenko called out Lombard saying, "Hector Lombard, I kill you." After Lombard moved to the UFC, Shlemenko instead faced Anthony Ruiz outside of Bellator, in Russia, defeating Ruiz via unanimous decision. Bellator Middleweight Champion He then returned to Bellator to fight tournament winner Maiquel Falcao for the vacant middleweight title, knocking Falcao out in the second round to become the second Bellator middleweight champion. Shlemenko was next set to defend his title for the first time against tournament winner and former WEC light-heavyweight champion Doug Marshall at the start of Season 9. Unfortunately Marshall was injured and replaced by Brett Cooper. Shlemenko would defend his title for the first time in a rematch against Cooper. Shlemenko defeated Cooper via unanimous decision after an excellent fight that was instantly dubbed a "Bellator classic" by the commentators. Shlemenko next defended his title for the second time against Marshall, knocking Marshall out with little effort in the very first round. Shlemenko then defended his title for the third time against undefeated Brennan Ward defeating Ward via second round guillotine choke submission. Shlemenko then moved briefly up to light-heavyweight for a non-title fight against Bellator newcomer and former UFC light-heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz. Ortiz defeated Shlemenko via a dominant first round arm triangle choke technical submission. Shlemenko's reign as champion at 185 pounds wasn't effected of course and he was next set to defend his title for the fourth time agains tournament winner Brandon Halsey. Losing the Title Halsey added insult to injury, taking Shlemenko's title with a thirty-five second rear naked choke submission. Shlemenko then signed to fight outside of Bellator against Yasubey Enomoto in his native Russia. After that he would return to Bellator to fight Dream veteran and striker Melvin Manhoef. Shlemenko defeated Enomoto via unanimous decision before knocking out Manhoef in the second round with a spinning back fist. A month later Shlemenko tested positive for elevated testosterone levels and was suspended for three years by the CSAC and fined $10,000. As if that wasn't enough, Shlemenko's win over Manhoef was overturned to a no-contest. Fights *Jose Landi-Jons vs. Alexander Shlemenko 1 *Ronaldo Souza vs. Alexander Shlemenko *Jose Landi-Jons vs. Alexander Shlemenko 2 *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Diego Vitosky *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Bubba McDaniel *Jordan Radev vs. Alexander Shlemenko *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Matt Major - The fight was in the quarterfinals of the Bellator Season Two middleweight tournament. It was the Bellator debut of both men. *Jared Hess vs. Alexander Shlemenko - The fight was in the semifinals of the Bellator second season middleweight tournament. The fight was only Jared Hess's second career loss. He injured his knee badly in the third round and the doctor stopped the fight. Shlemenko thus advanced in the finals to face off against Bryan Baker. *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Nick Wagner *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Brett Cooper 1 *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Zelg Galesic - The fight was the Bellator debut of Zelg Galesic, in the quarterfinals of the Bellator season five middleweight tournament. *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Brian Rogers - The fight was in the semifinals of the Bellator season five middleweight tournament. *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Vitor Vianna - The fight was in the finals of the Bellator season five middleweight tournament. *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Julio Paulino *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Ikuhisa Minowa - The fight was the Super Fight League debut of both men. *Alexander Shlemenko vs. Brett Cooper 2 - The fight was for the Bellator middleweight championship with Shlemenko defending. Brett Cooper was a late replacement for an injured Doug Marshall. *Brandon Halsey vs. Alexander Shlemenko - The fight was for the Bellator middleweight title with Alexander Shlemenko defending. Category:Middleweight fighters Category:Bellator champions